Hidden in the Four
by OfCourseAllTheGoodNamesAreGone
Summary: AU. What if the Green Ninja wasn't Lloyd? What if he was just a temporary replacement until the real green ninja was ready? The real Green Ninja is hidden within one of the four elements until they have proved themselves. He will either be Zane, Kai, Cole, or Jay, when he has passed the Trial, that is. This is a retelling from the beginning, the way it should have been.
1. The Start

It all started with a prophecy.

 _Orphan, Wannabee, Runaway, Joker,_

 _Four as one, once alone,_

 _One was hidden, an emerald in the elements, Ice, Fire, Earth, Lightning,_

 _A Temporary replacement, until He proved himself_

 _All in greatness, but one rose above, defeated the odds,_

 _And the Green Ninja saved them all._

Zane, that's all he knew, his name.

A blacksmith, Kai, he would be the greatest!

No one had to know, he was _just_ Cole.

He had to get away, he, Jay, had to be himself.

 _An old man lay in a cot, metallic walls on all sides, all unfamiliar surroundings. Some unknown instinct told him the stairs were the exit, as there wasn't anywhere else. Snow, so much snow, Zane couldn't see anything, so he missed the golden robot scanning the surrounding storm, along with the moving 'trees' around him._ Zane remembered this, anything before was a blur, so he usually blocked the memories, what was the use, he'd rather think he had lived in the monastery his whole life, his instincts screamed at him there was something missing, but Zane couldn't comprehend what it could be. Amnesia is common with orphans with traumatic experiences, he assumed it was the same with him. After all, what else could it possibly be?

The sword had come out wrong, again! Kai had tried so hard, but no matter what he did, it ended with the same result, impossibly bent swords, or they were too weak to do anything other than decorate, that is. Nya said it took patience, but he disliked waiting, who could wait that long for a simple sword. He was supposed to be a legendary warrior, and blacksmith, all rolled into one, he didn't have time to sit around making an average sword, his perfect weapons should be made quickly, efficiently, and, most importantly, legendary. He had to craft his own though, and even Nya was better than him, and she was a girl! Oh, Kai cringed, she'd smack him if she heard that.

Cole had finally done it, he told his dad he went to college, as if! College and music must be the most boring, dull, unexciting, mundane thing ever! So what if he had lied about school, and caring, it's not as if his old man would ever need to know, he could pretend he was some bigshot in, Cole didn't even know where his dad hadn't been, but he'd find out, and say he was there. Meanwhile, he could find his purpose while his dad went off on _his_ career, Cole would not be a copy!

Parents were embarrassing, he had to get away, it was shameful. They didn't even get any of his jokes, the most important part of him! Didn't know what he would do, didn't know where he would go, he guessed he would find a girl who understood his jokes, a bunch of friends he would joke with, become something awesome, somewhere where he could be himself. He loved engineering, electricity, the works, but he just plain didn't like his parents, they were everything he wasn't. Like water and lightning, it wasn't that shocking, well actually, it kind of was. Jay had to give out a laugh, he definitely had the skill, the humour, everything, it was just his parents, after he left, all would be good. Jay had to admit, his jokes were awesome, intentional or not.

Zane bowed at the dummy, it was only respectful, after all, to bow to your opponent before sparring. Sensei Wu watched, sipping his tea, with two sugar cubes, just how he liked it. As he leaned down, bowing, he heard a sudden ringing in his ears, and a fresh pain in his head, guess dummies didn't follow the common sparring rules then.. Sensei gave out a laugh, it was kind of cracky, like there was an impact with a wall, Zane found he didn't mind, his Sensei's laugh was nice, it not only showed he could laugh, but it also told a story. One of the cracks in his chuckle was one too many hits with heartbreak, another was lingering sadness, and longing. Zane wished he knew what Sensei Wu was laughing about though, he hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

Kai fished out the sword, he had maybe, forgotten about it, and gotten distracted by his father's masterpieces. He felt as though he should have remembered though, it made him kind of upset, he wasn't anywhere near Nya, who wasn't anywhere near father's skill level once was, he felt hopeless, in that one moment, and he didn't like the feeling. Kai promised himself that he would never be so down, it was unbecoming of a proud warrior, they never gave up, it wasn't in their nature, and Kai vowed he would be the same, now, if only he could be more like his father… No! No more giving up and reminiscing, Kai would be amazing, remembered, and looked up to, there was no way he would allow himself to be anything less! Leaving the comfort of the shop and forge bundled together, entering the frigid, cool air. Looking around, he spotted several other houses and shops, and further away, there were farmlands, with workers planting and harvesting, a sort of weird mixture, his village was great like that, very important, as there was no dry season, so they planted and harvested all year long, and could afford breaks, instead of being on tight deadlines like the villages on the other side of Ninjago City, their village was special, and Kai silently shouted out in his mind, _I will be the greatest of them all!_

The village was nice, and Cole silently analyzed all that was before him, there was a blacksmith, Four Weapons Blacksmith Shop if he read right, several small huts near the edge, farmlands all around, and more small shops, and slightly more modern houses the closer to the center the village, not much more modern though, Ninjago City had obviously passed them in terms of technology. Cole decided he would take a brisk walk through, not long enough to stay the night, as it was only just barely noon, he would stay just long enough to get supplies, check out the Four Weapons Blacksmith Shop, it looked cool, and he couldn't help but wonder, did they only sell four different kinds of weapons, or was it something else, the name had to have some sort of meaning, even if it wasn't a sentimental name. Anyways, Cole would pass through the village, get supplies, check out the blacksmith shop, and head over to the next village, hopefully before nightfall. He had the thought that he could try his limits, physical, of course, no way would he do, with a shiver, he thought of music.

Jay had no idea what to do next, he knew he wanted something to do with electricity, it was the only thing he and his parents had agreed on, if only slightly, while they wanted to have all the old stuff, he wanted to tinker with new things, discover them, become something more than himself, have a legacy, he just needed a way to get there, to show his stuff, kind of like lightning, though Jay would never be a one-shot pony. Yup, Jay definitely still had it. He guessed he could attempt to get a job, you know, getting used to technology that wasn't in a dump, that would be nice. Jay kept that thought in mind as he walked down the old, dusty road, yes, he would get a job, learn the standards of today, not of years ago, that would be his first step. Now, where to get the job, Jay thought he had an idea for it, if he got a mostly isolated job, where not many would see him tinker or be affected by it, he could learn what was required with the newer technology, and hopefully go beyond those standards, he would shoot up in fame faster than lightning. Jay gave a small laugh while his foot took him where he needed to go, if he didn't have someone to tell these to soon, he would go insane. No, scratch that, he would go insane and ballistic. Though it might be smart to avoid using so lightning jokes, they would get old fast, though they were fun, and he was obsessed with them.


	2. Zane

(Zane's POV)

Zane was bone-tired. Sensei had insisted that he run up and down the stairs several times. Zane understood the purpose, physical exertion, but running up and down the long steps seemed unnecessary. And long. The list went on and on. Sensei was now having Zane go on the obstacle course, for the third time today. The dummies were in action, and Zane knew from last time that dummies **did not** follow common sparring courtesy. So, he ran, jumped, and twisted around the course, while Sensei Wu looked in old scrolls, reviewing his vast knowledge, Zane supposed.

"Zane." Sensei's voice was crackly again, thick with emotion. Zane stopped immediately and bowed in his Sensei's direction, ready to receive orders. "From now on, you will be working on subtlety and stealth, starting with shuriken."

Zane was surprised, though his face remained cautiously blank. Zane was pretty sure he was still too slow, his reflexes not quick enough, flaws in his strategy, he wasn't ready to move on, but something kept his mouth shut. He straightened from his bow, meeting his Sensei's eyes, and was delighted to see a smile stretching across Sensei Wu's face, crinkling up his eyes. "Would you like tea before we start, Sensei?"

Then of course Zane was tasked to run back down the stairs, and, "borrow" tea from the tea shop in the village below. He would leave some of his money on the counter, of course. Sensei Wu had taught him to be honest, and even though they didn't have ninja training, and probably wouldn't even notice the tea missing, it was a stealth mission, after all, but Zane wouldn't, no, couldn't steal tea. Especially for something as small as stealth training.

The village was further out than Zane had suspected. While he had thought it would be around the bend in the road, it was, in reality, miles away. So, Zane trudged back up the stairs to ask for Sensei's wisdom. His Sensei was in the main room, reading once again. "Sensei Wu, the village is further than I anticipated, what should be done?"

"Why of course, I thought you would realize I know exactly where the village is, Zane, and expect you to work on physical capabilities still, so, run."

Zane sighed, Sensei would say that. As he was walking out the door, he turned back to give a bow to his Sensei before exiting, and of course his Sensei added one last thing. "And don't forget, I need my tea by sunset!" With that Zane ran, his Sensei's laughter following him all the way down the stairs.

It was startling, the similarities between family members. Zane had arrived at the village and was attempting to find a tea shop. He didn't, however know most words, and could only read a few words. None of which included tea. It was a dilemma, and one not easily solvable. So, he instead decided to observe the members of the village until he got a sign on which shop he needed to enter. There were several families that were all almost identical, looks and personalities. One such family he had noticed had three sons and no mother. Their father worked them hard, and there was much rivalry between the brothers, especially over the father's favoritism. They all wanted his favor, and fought over it constantly. Zane wondered what he would do in such a situation, would he fight and bicker? Shove the others down so he would be the most favored? He was happy he had no family sometimes, as there was no rivalry between him and his Sensei, considering their roles.

There was an old lady walking across from Zane. She seemed to be overweighed with bags, and so, being the ninja he was to be, he offered to help. "Of course, you may, young man, I just need to pass these out to some friends and neighbors of mine, the festival is coming up, and I'm in charge of invitations. Could you be a dear and send these to the addresses they're addressed to, thanks!"

Zane watched in surprise as she dumped the bags at his feet and seemed to skip off without another word. It was surprising how quickly she dumped her load, not even asking if he could do the task. It made Zane feel appreciated though, wanted, needed. So, he opened the bags, and saw letters upon letters upon letters. Each bag was stacked to the brim. He picked one up, he could match the numbers if they were numerical addresses. But, alas, they were not. Apparently since it was such a tight knit community, they labeled each house with the family name, and had that as their address, which would be of no help to Zane. So, he wandered, occasionally looking at signs half-heartedly. He would be late in delivering Sensei's tea, that much was certain. Unless… Zane was struck with inspiration, he'd ask for someone to help him! Now, he just had to find someone willing…

Zane had asked so many people to help, and all of them had refused. There was someone coming who he hadn't asked yet, and Zane walked up to them. "Hello. Could you please help me find" "Nice to meet you, I'm Jay, like the bird, only better. I've been told I'm a genius of electricity, only my acts of intelligence come really fast and random, like lightning. Get it, electricity, lightning? It's so funny, I know! I'm a natural at jokes!"

Zane just looked at the guy, Jay, and said, "What's a… joke?" The Jay guy looked surprised for a second and then gave a laugh, "That's a good one, pretending you've never heard a joke before..." One look at Zane's face, though, and he gave a small frown. "Really, aw man, that's sad, I'll teach you. I am considered the master of everything to do with humor and lightning…"

Zane tuned him out, instead thinking on how he could ask Jay to help him pass out letters. Then he spotted another person he had not yet asked, he knew so because they had black hair. Gently nudging the still talking Jay in that direction, Zane pondered how to turn this around. He could get Jay to leave with the other guy, get Jay to help him, get Blacky, the nickname for the other guy, to help him, or just manage to get them both to help him, that would be ideal. Zane watched as Jay bumped into Blacky, which cut off his continuous chatter.

"Hey, watch where you're going! I'm trying to get somewhere!" Zane idly thought of family similarities, and how these two seemed to enjoy living in their own world. Sensei Wu would have fun training that out of them, if he accepted them, that is. "Well, I'm trying to tell this guy what a joke is, geez, your temper is as flashy as lightning… Get it?! I am on a roll!"

Zane stepped in between them, they were obviously not going to back off without some interference. "Um, would either of you, by chance, help me get these letters out, I told this old lady I would send them, but, I don't know how" "Of course!" "Why not." Zane huffed in annoyance, these two couldn't stop trying to outdo each other, and they had just met! They hadn't even let him finish, Sensei always let him finish his thought before judging.

"I need to stop by this blacksmith place first though, so if you want my help you have to come." The tone seemed kind of stuck up, and Zane thought that if he were one of the brothers, he would be the oldest, the one who thinks they've seen everything and has to be obeyed. He nodded meekly, if he was going to be late with Sensei's tea, he would want to stay out as long as possible to allow Sensei to cool down. Jay agreed with another saying about lightning and outshining, before following after Blacky, and Zane following after him.

They entered a shop, a blacksmith, Blacky had called it, and were assaulted with the noise of a pounding hammer coming from the back. A spiky haired boy was working over a long piece of metal, a sword, if Zane was right. Blacky and Jay immediately got closer, scrambling to get a view of what the guy was working over. "Hey! Back off! If you mess with me, you'll be beaten by the best warrior legend there ever was!" The spiky-haired guy had a temper, and there was a scowl on his face as he looked over Jay, Blacky and me. This would-be trouble, and Zane silently wondered which would be worse, these three in the same shop, or Sensei's wrath when he got tea later than expected.

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A/N: I will be writing in a cycle, a chapter in Zane's POV, then Kai's, then Cole's, and then Jay's. I may add Sensei Wu in the mix occasionally, but it will mostly be these four. I am also going to state, right now, that this is an AU. There will be some plots and scenes that are the same, but I'm going to try and make up my own interactions and plots, as shown in this chapter. I will update sporadically, as life has unexpected twists that prevent me from writing, however much I wish too. I will try my hardest to update often though. I also apologize for any Ocness, as I can't always get the characters right. Thanks for reading! Please give feedback on anything confusing so I can improve my writing for you!


	3. Kai

(Kai POV)

Kai was frustrated. How was he supposed to keep this stupid sword straight? It seemed that no matter what he did it was always the same. Nya had offered tips before she left to get lanterns, but now she was gone, and the sword he was attempting to straighten didn't look any straighter. Kai refused to give in before the sword. It was disgraceful, not even being able to finish a simple sword. So, he stared at it, and stared, hoping that somehow his glare would straighten the blade.

After a while, he finally caved, and blinked. Then lifted the hammer once more, it's shadow hanging over his head. There was another shadow next to it, and Kai blinked once more to be sure he wasn't imagining things. Nope, it was still there, so he reluctantly turned around to deal with a customer, a nice looking old lady. She was panting, and, after catching her breath, simply stated, "Some people are so gullible." Kai blinked, and blinked again, it looked as though the nice-looking old lady wasn't actually that nice. "Why's that?"

"Well, of course," her voice changed to an old, grandmother like tone, "I really need help with these letters for the festival, could you be a dear?" Her snippy tone was back as she replied, "Of course, being the newcomer he was, he bought it, and now he's passing out letters that I'm being paid for! Isn't it great?" Kai stared, and then his gaze hardened, a warrior fought for honor, and he felt pity for whatever poor sap had ended up doing all the work for this woman. He would get revenge for them, it was only warrior-like after all.

"Get out." Kai glared as hard at her as he had at the sword. "I hate people like you. Not even working for yourself. You disgust me, get out." His face was turned up in disgust, and he reached for a sword on the wall next to him. He had to seem like he meant business, or she would ignore him. So, he picked up a sword Nya had crafted, a really long, shiny one, and pointed it at her. "I won't say it again, get out!"

The old lady was gone as fast as she had come in, and Kai hoped that whoever was stuck doing her job would find her, and get better revenge than chasing her out of a store. It made Kai feel good, though, to command such an aura that she would run. He was holding a sword though, that might have been part of it. Kai got back to work, happy that he had acted as a warrior would, and he couldn't wait to tell Nya of what had happened.

It was a few hours later, and Kai was still stuck on the same, stupid sword. He brought the hammer down as another attempt at straightening it, and it stayed exactly the same, despite being almost melted from the heat. There was a ruckus at the front, and Kai sighed, if that was that old lady again, he would hit her with this hot sword. She had come around again several times that day, and had to be scared away with something more intense every time.

Kai felt a presence behind him, and, turning around, he did not expect to see two people almost right at his back, and another slightly further away. Glaring at them, all of them, even the dude with almost white hair, he managed to spit out "Hey! Back off! If you mess with me, you'll be beaten by the best warrior legend there ever was!" That certainly scared them, Kai thought, as they seemed to slowly back away under his hard gaze. It felt good to be feared. The guy in the back, with the almost white hair, seemed to flinch at something before giving a small grin.

"What're you smiling about? Can't you see I'm trying to work here?!" Kai had snapped, first the sword, then the old lady, and now this doofus. The dude in the back flinched more violently before straightening. "Do you know where the tea shop is? I need to get tea to my Sensei."

Kai could almost feel steam coming out of his ears, that guy had nerves. While he was snapping at that guy, the other two had started bickering as well. There were random mentions of lightning and "That's not a thing!" It was kind of funny to watch, actually.

"Why are you people here?" Kai finally said, leaving the other guy's question unanswered on purpose. They all responded, after the two had stopped arguing. The black haired one snidely said that the shop looked worth his time. The one that kept making jokes said that "Like lightning, he was hit with a flash of inspiration" while the last one seemed to be debating what to say, and finally just said "I'm Zane."

Kai just looked at him, as did the others, the lightning guy nodded his head sage-like and said "I know, you've said that already" There were laughs all around this time, and even Kai had to give a chuckle, some of the jokes were pretty good. The Zane-guy just looked at us though, as if he didn't know why we were laughing. The black-haired one gave a snicker at the blank look on Zane's face. Something about Zane seemed to rub Kai the wrong way. Come to think of it, all of them annoyed him in some way or another. The black haired one seemed snobby, the lightning guy made way too many jokes, and Zane was just, it was like he wasn't really there, in a way.

The black haired one spoke up. "Well, since _Zane_ here already took it upon himself to start the introduction, I'll go next, I'm Cole." He crossed his arms in a way that made him look more tough. Kai almost laughed. Cole thought he could intimidate Kai, who would one day be a legendary warrior? As if. Kai gave a snort and nodded his head at lightning guy to go next. "I'm Jay, master of jokes and electricity, almost as great as lightning is!" Kai just nodded his head. The guy, Jay, told some good jokes, but most were awful, he was too intent on the lightning ones. It just ruined them. Zane offered another detached "I'm Zane." And went back to looking uncomfortable. Kai just nodded his head and introduced himself. "I'm Kai, now if you're not here to buy, leave."

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A/N: Thank you for reading! It really makes my day! I'm sorry for any out of character thoughts/moments, I'm not the best at sticking to specific ways of speech and thoughts. Please give feedback on how I can better my writing, I really appreciate it.


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